Research Article
Symptom Experiences before Medical Help-Seeking and Psychosocial Responses of Patients with Esophageal Cancer: A Qualitative Study
Table 1
Participant characteristics.
| Number of participants n = 14 (%) |
| Age mean (range) | 65 (47–79) | Sex | Female | 2 (14) | Male | 12 (86) | Marital status | Married | 12 (86) | Living alone | 2 (14) | Residential status | Rural | 9 (64) | Urban | 5 (36) | Education status | Primary or none | 6 (43) | Secondary | 6 (43) | Tertiary | 2 (14) | Smoking behavior | Current smoker | 7 (50) | Ex-smoker | 3 (21) | Never smoked | 4 (29) | Alcohol | Overconsumptiona | 8 (57) | Time since diagnosis | 1-2 weeks | 4 (29) | 2-3 weeks | 3 (21) | 3-4 weeks | 7 (50) | Type of pathology | Adenocarcinoma | 0 (0) | Squamous-cell carcinoma | 14 (100) | Stage | Stage I | 2 (14) | Stage II/III | 11 (79) | Stage IV | 1 (7) | Treatment | Neoadjuvant chemo-radiotherapy | 3 (21) | Surgery | 11 (79) |
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aChinese dietary guideline limit on grams of alcohol for women (men) is 15 (25) grams/day.
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